Hard working volunteers have been given extra support to deliver food to those in need in rural villages within Suffolk.
A project operating from Stradbroke has benefited from council grants and extra manpower and Bishop Martin met recently with the Revd Canon Susan Loxton, Rural Dean of Hoxne and Hartismere, who is based at the Rectory in Doctors Lane, Stradbroke.
Food donations are left at the Rectory and taken to the Waveney foodbank scheme in Eye by the foodbank lorry on Wednesdays.
But some families find it difficult to access foodbank satellite points due to the opening times and lack of public transport. Therefore Canon Susan orders food boxes for single people, couples and families which are dropped off by the foodbank lorry at the Rectory before being delivered by volunteers.
Bishop Martin said: ‘‘I was delighted to see the way the church is making such a difference during a time of great need and it is this grass roots enterprise which gets straight to the heart of the community. The church is working in partnership with others in the community to deliver a vital service that will help those who are struggling to have enough food for the week.’’
The volunteers were thanked by Canon Susan too who added: "People from Stradbroke, Fressingfield and other villages nearby all help to donate food and we deliver to local villages including Stradbroke, Fressingfield, out as far as Worlingworth, Eye, Laxfield and on occasions beyond. You have to have a voucher, which you can get from the doctors, school or me - it's all done online now. Then we fulfil the voucher and deliver. Since Covid we had to find some other help as my team are over 70. The parish council offered me £150 to help, so I asked a local taxi driver and I pay him his mileage. The money ran out but Mid-Suffolk District Council who know about this foodbank outpost told me there was a grant, so I applied, and received £200.’’